75 Years And Counting

A trip to New England this past week led me to meet up for some great food, family, and a little wildlife observation outside of the state of Florida.



Though it was great to see all, most importantly was in mom, Marie, celebrating her 75th birthday August 14th, 2010.

My sister Nancy spent dozens of hours researching rental properties on Cape Cod with the help of my sister-in-law, Maria, and niece, Krisztina (labor possibly induced this coming week).



The property chosen in East Sandwich was pulled off the rental market at the last minute and a beautiful alternative was found in New Seabury on Cape Cod.

Uncle Mike arrived on the scene with a pair of feathers in his hat.



He described his stop at an Osprey nest on the way in which explained one of the feathers, but it was undecided which species the other had come from.

When I told him of my personally exciting sighting of Wild Turkeys recently made, he pulled out his camera and showed me the same species that he had photographed the day before.



Nancy and her husband Jack told of their experience of observing a bird eating a rabbit on their way in.

An Osprey was heard and seen every day at the property while a Great Blue Heron made its way overhead on a few occasions.



The first day was the most active for birding by ear with a lot of action though it became quieter thereafter.

Brothers Jim and Jack were at the helm of a day trip to the east while a stop was made at a few points of interest.



Jim brought to my attention a bird collection at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

Nancy had made her way to the marsh there overlooking Wing's Island Conservation Area and advised me of an Osprey nest she had seen.



The historic Lighthouse Inn, approaching its 73rd year, overlooking Nantucket Sound at West Dennis Beach, offered Double-crested Cormorant that shared a jetty with Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, and gulls.

In addition, a solitary Least Tern working the surf over several hundred yards showed evidence of its bill turning black as the breeding season ends.



On 13 April 2010, a Piping Plover egg was observed on a private beach in Hyannis Port which was the earliest seen plover egg by four days in Massachusetts.

A bumper sticker at a local t-shirt shop noted that Piping Plover tastes like chicken, in reference to disruptive beach closures, while none of the stickers were observed on any vehicles in the area.



My nephew, Larry, and his wife and children had made a trip to South Cape Beach State Park early in the week to amazingly observe a small plane crash in the water which is still under investigation as to the cause as of this writing.

On the final morning of the trip, I observed a Carolina Chickadee at close range at the rental house which I remember mom favored in her porcelain work with the delicately painted birds perched on Dogwood.



The flight home offered a great view of Fort Myers Beach, Estero Lagoon and Lovers Key State Park on the plane's final approach to the airport.

The camera was stowed away as I had used up all the memory on the 2GB card.



Happy 75th Birthday Mom!

Cat And Mouse

Among a pair of efforts to observe wildlife this past week, an unplanned early morning trip to Harns Marsh Preserve was made.

The Snail Kite above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

I was thus able to accomplish my hope of visiting this fine venue at least monthly for two consecutive months now.

I was amazed by the apparent complete absence of wildlife at the preserve after setting up my gear and deleting the images on the camera's memory card from my last venture.

The Snail Kite above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

Doing that reminded me of an opinion I recently read where memory cards are so relatively inexpensive these days that images should remain on them for storage, but I don't think the cards are that inexpensive yet, especially if you're shooting RAW.

It was mere minutes after settling down that I observed a Snail Kite land on a perch across the water directly in front of me.

The Snail Kite above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

A moment later an Osprey flew in from the south and drove the kite from its perch which remained unoccupied for the next hour until the Osprey landed on it after appearing again seemingly out of nowhere.

There is rarely visual evidence of snails in the water at the preserve which the kites pluck from the water's surface while countless numbers of shells should be seen all along the preserve's water's edge in a couple of months based on my observations last year.

The Snail Kite above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

Since my visit to Harns Marsh Preserve last month, the grass along the shoreline had been cut and most of the litter was removed.

The clean-up effort was possibly done by a local Boy Scout troop as I had read was a preserve sponsor last year.

The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

Within a short while of arriving at the preserve, the bird activity was prolific.

There was significantly more Snail Kite activity than observed last month while disappointingly less Limpkin activity visually.

The Osprey above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

The Snail Kite that had been driven from its perch reappeared over the tree line and upon having a view of the Osprey preening itself on it, the kite meekly flew back out of view.

All the regulars for this time of year and area were seen while I was extremely fortunate to observe the Wild Turkey for the first time.

The Glossy Ibis above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

It took some effort, due to the turkeys walking through taller grass and the long distance, to ultimately count what I think were ten in the flock which makes for a very large family of offspring.

A laggard juvenile in the group was as far as 35 feet back from the adult in the lead at one point.

The White Morph Great Blue Heron above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

It was extremely exciting for me to add the Wild Turkey to my "lifer" list and was especially a treat to see the large family of Wild Turkey I did.

Earlier in the week I made a trip to the Cape Coral Library to see how the Burrowing Owl pair were fairing I had last observed six weeks earlier.

The Wild Turkey above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

While I've seen the owls and their offspring at burrows I had been observing south of the library earlier this spring, the owls at the burrow adjacent to the library this past week appeared unsuccessful in rearing young as none were observed.

Mating activity of the owls this week due to the absence of juveniles wasn't observed as expected.

The Snail Kite above was photographed at Harns Marsh Preserve in June 2010.

The absence of juveniles at this particular burrow is possibly due to weather conditions of an unusually cold winter and very prolific rainfall of late.

I was able to photograph the female carrying a sock to the burrow which is mating or nesting behavior.

The Burrowing Owl above was photographed at Cape Coral Library in June 2010.

It's my plan to send the shot to National Geographic in response to their story in the July issue of the magazine to make a correlation between the behaviors of the Burrowing Owl and their featured "Birds That Decorate," the Bowerbird.

In the magazine's article, 17 of the 20 known species of this bird genera are noted where the male will build a lair of sorts out of twigs and sticks to attract a mate.

The Burrowing Owl above was photographed at Cape Coral Library in June 2010.

At the front of the lair, the males will decorate the ground with natural and unnatural items they find including trash when available as they attempt to seduce a female to mate.

When successful, the female will lay eggs at another location.

The Burrowing Owl above was photographed at Cape Coral Library in June 2010.

The female Burrowing Owl observed "decorating" the entrance to its burrow lends a degree of protection from predators to its young as I have observed and read, but wonder if there is any additional intent in its behavior, perhaps bonding with its mate.

The male was observed bringing the female an insect, but I couldn't photograph the event as I was unprepared for the low light conditions.

The Burrowing Owl above was photographed at Cape Coral Library in June 2010.

The differences between the Burrowing Owl and Bowerbirds are significant, but it's interesting how similarly the two species behave, isn't it?